KPK Finds Financial Records Of Sale And Purchase Of Hajj Quota In Search In Jakarta

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) found financial records related to the sale and purchase of additional hajj quotas to electronic evidence after conducting a search in Jakarta on Tuesday, August 19. A total of four locations were searched to look for evidence of alleged corruption in quotas and the implementation of Hajj in 2023-2024 at the Ministry of Religion.

"KPK on the previous day (Tuesday, August 19) continued its search activities, namely at three locations of the association office for organizing the pilgrimage and another at the home of the travel agency," said KPK spokesman Budi Prasetyo to reporters quoted on Thursday, August 21.

From this search, investigators found the necessary evidence, Budi said. "So from the four locations in Jakarta, the team secured a number of BBE documents and also financial records related to the sale and purchase of the additional quota for Hajj which is currently being investigated by investigators," he said.

In the future, the KPK will summon a number of parties to be questioned in the quota corruption case and the implementation of the hajj. They will also be clarified about the findings of evidence obtained by investigators during the search process.

The case began with the provision of 20,000 additional hajj quotas from the Saudi Arabian government for Indonesia to reduce queues for pilgrims.

However, recently the distribution turned out to be problematic because it was divided equally, namely 50 percent for regular Hajj and 50 percent for special Hajj.

In fact, based on the law, the distribution should be 92 percent for regular Hajj and 8 percent for special Hajj.

"The KPK will of course call the relevant parties to clarify the request for information and confirmation, related to the documents or electronic evidence that have been secured. We will open the contents, what the information is like," said Budi.

Previously reported, the KPK has issued a general investigation warrant (sprindik) for alleged corruption in the addition of quotas and the implementation of Hajj. This institution reasoned that the issuance was carried out so that they could make forced efforts.

The general Sprindik uses Article 2 Paragraph 1 and/or Article 3 of Law Number 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption as amended by Law Number 20 of 2021 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. This means that there are state losses that occur due to this rasuah practice.

State losses in the corruption case of quota and Hajj for the period 2023-2024 are said to have reached more than IDR 1 trillion. This amount is still increasing because it is only the initial calculation of the KPK which continues to coordinate with the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) of the Republic of Indonesia.

The anti-corruption commission has conducted a series of searches in several locations. Among them are the offices of the Ministry of Religion, the homes of related parties to the offices of travel agents or travel agents for Hajj and Umrah trips.

Searches at the Ministry of Religion and the homes of related parties took place conducively. The parties were cooperative.

From this activity, one unit of four-wheeled vehicles, several property assets, as well as documents and electronic evidence (BBE) related to allegations of corruption in quotas and the implementation of Hajj.

Meanwhile, at the travel agent office, the opposite is true. Investigators suspect that there are parties who are trying to eliminate evidence so that the KPK is considering the application of Article 21 of the Corruption Act related to obstruction of justice or obstruction of investigation.

Then, investigators moved to a house in the Depok area, West Java. There the investigators confiscated a four-wheeled vehicle and took it to the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta.

Finally, investigators searched Yaqut's house and confiscated electronic evidence. This finding will later be extracted to seek information related to allegations of corruption that is being handled.